A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to firearms and the operating systems for firing rifles. More specifically, this invention relates operating systems for rifles which are designed to accommodate the easy removal and replacement of the bolt and bolt carrier, thereby permitting the rifle to be reconfigured to fire different calibers of ammunition, and which are designed to permit the fire control system to be positioned on multiple sides of the receiver, thereby providing a operating system which can be configured by the user to receive ammunition from the top, bottom or either side of the firearm.
B. Description of Related Art
Operating systems for rifles are well known in the art. Certain well known rifles have provided for the removal and replaceability of certain components of the firearm's operating system. Often, such weapons require special tools for the disassembly and/or assembly of the rifle and are not well suited to reconfiguration in the field. A variety of operating systems for rifles have been disclosed. For general background material, the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,593,452, 3,675,534, 3,688,640, 3,710,495, 3,771,415, 3,776,095, 3,846,928, 3,847,054, 3,850,076, 3,857,323, 3,999,461, 4,023,465, 4,028,993, 4,056,038, 4,057,003, 4,058,922, 4,066,000, 4,116,193, 4,128,042, 4,244,273, 4,358,986, 4,389,919, 4,433,610, 4,438,678, 4,469,006, 4,475,438, 4,502,367, 4,523,509, 4,562,659, 4,579,034, 4,693,170, 4,756,228, 4,765,224, 4,791,851, 4,867,040, 4,872,391, 4,893,547, 4,920,678, 4,920,855, 4,932,148, 4,942,802, 5,046,275, 5,103,714, 5,123,329, 5,551,179, 5,581,926, 5,634,288, 5,663,522, 5,680,724, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for the material disclosed therein.